When asked by BBC News what Margate needs to do to get back on its feet, she stated: "Margate needs some money. Let's get Dreamland rebuilt, let's get the seafront looking beautiful, let's have an antiques market once a month. Let's get Margate back on the map".

Emin's call comes as the Government considers an application for grant funding to rebuild the famous amusement park.

Click here to download the clip in wmv format.

Page 4 of the same newspaper features a report on the bid for £4m of Sea Change grant funding from the DCMS. This features comments on the bid from Thanet District Council Chief Executive Richard Samuel and from Nick Laister, who notes that the grant applications are a very competitive process this year.

(The 'Park Strikes Back' article can be viewed online here).
 

The London-based company, which has Richard Briers as a patron, commissioned the plays. The Company's website states: "The existence in the popular memory of a place called Dreamland at a time when a community is discussing and devising its future is a theatrical goldmine." There will be three site-specific plays around this transition from the past to the exciting future. One will be voted to become the "play for Margate", best reflecting the town's personality and its place in 21st-century Britain.

The third play - Soul'd by James Woolf - will be of most interest to Dreamland campaigners, as it looks at one man's quest to save what he can from the remains of a burnt-out Dreamland roller-coaster.

To get your free tickets, phone the box office on 01227 787787. For more information, visit www.netcurtains.org.
 

1. The little-known Switchback Railway roller coaster predated the Scenic Railway and was one of the very first roller coasters to ever operate in the UK. But it was not located at Dreamland. This gallery pieces together the limited information on this ride. View...

2. A gallery of postcards of Sanger's Menagerie and gardens, which predated Dreamland. Remains of the cages and other structures were discovered last year and are now listed. View...
 

The unveiling of the heritage amusement park plans was featured in the May 2009 edition of Platform, the journal of The Fairground Society.

Finally, the Isle of Thanet Gazette letters page of 15 May contained this idea for a new ride that could be installed at Dreamland when it reopens.

Thanet District Council's website has also been carrying the latest news on Dreamland over the past few days. Their website has recently reported the Sea Change bid submission and the town's starring role in The Apprentice.

Check back to the site over the weekend for news of an evening of theatre at Margate's Theatre Royal called...Dreamland!

There is nobody better to answer that question than our very own Sarah Vickery, who appeared on the top-rated show:

"I was rather surprised by how rubbish the teams were - I've watched every series of the Apprentice and I think this lot is the ropiest yet!

"What a missed opportunity for Margate. Eight supposedly talented people, branding experts on hand, the might and budget of the BBC - and they didn't come up with a single usable idea."

The show aired just two weeks after Thanet District Council submitted a £4million bid to the Government’s Sea Change grant scheme for funding to help create the world’s first amusement park of historic rides on Dreamland. And this was hot on the heels of an application for over £2.6million to the Heritage Lottery Fund in March, submitted by The Dreamland Trust with assistance from The Prince’s Regeneration Trust.

Dreamland Trust Chair Nick Laister comments: "We know that filming of The Apprentice took place last October. Back then we had only just been awarded a relatively small Government grant to undertake feasibility work on the Dreamland project, so we didn't expect our plans to feature heavily in the contestants’ presentations.”

“We now have detailed plans for this striking new attraction which will transform Margate. It’s a reminder of how much progress has been made in such an incredibly short period of time.”

Does Nick Laister agree with Sarah Vickery that The Apprentice teams were rubbish?

"They were appalling".

“I don’t believe Margate needs rebranding,” says Laister. “It’s a traditional seaside town with a fantastic beach, beautiful architecture, loyal fans and passionate residents – but it has been allowed to decline over a number of years. Our plans for Dreamland will halt that decline, transform the town and create a genuinely compelling new visitor attraction.”

“Our project has backing from residents, businesses and key stakeholders in the area and that shared vision puts us in a very strong position.”
 

Today saw assessors from Sea Change in Margate to discuss the £4m bid with the Dreamland Client Group. This included a site visit to Dreamland, where the assessors were shown inside the Cinema the amusement park. Nick Laister represented the Trust throughout the day, and Council Leader Sandy Ezekiel and Chief Executive Richard Samuel were present throughout most of the session. BBC One's South East Today featured a report on the visit.

This is Kent featured a report on the latest funding bid, including quotes from Dreamland Trust Chair Nick Laister.
 

This is Kent includes an extensive article on the programme, which features Shell Grotto owner and The Dreamland Trust's treasurer, Sarah Vickery. Sarah apparently told the apprentices: "Your visions are dreadful. They’re just dreadful." Derek Harding of the Margate Renewal Partnership, one of the key players bringing Dreamland back to life, is also featured. Sarah was also interviewed by Invicta FM today and Radio Kent yesterday.

The application was supported by numerous other reports, including Business Plan; Outline Design Report; Historical Overview; Conservation Statement; and Interpretation Strategy Report. These can all be downloaded from this link. We expect that announcements on Wave 3 applications will be made in late July.

This application follows a separate application to Heritage Lottery Fund on 31 March for £3m, which was submitted by The Dreamland Trust on behalf of the Dreamland Client Group. The results of this application will be announced later this year.

Discuss the bid on our Forum.

The report concludes: “The Panel urged that the vision of Dreamland re-opening as the first and nationally unique heritage fairground be promoted with urgency and drive and without unnecessary burdens...Accordingly, Trust, Partnership and Authority were urged to turn all necessary attention to the re-emergence of Dreamland”.

In other news, the proposed Dreamland heritage amusement park is mentioned in a report on the River Caves fire at Southport's Pleasureland in the Champion newspaper.